Device for use in sorting and delivering mail



g G. F. LADD DEVICE FOR USE IN SORTING AND DELIVERING MAIL 3 Shets-Sheetl `Filed May 11, 1926 gvioemkoz r 5 1-1- -P ----l------,1..

Aug.' Z3, 1927.

' G. F. LADD DEVICE FOR USE IN SORTINC. AND DELIVERING MAIL 4Filed May11, 192e 5 sheets-shea 2 l @nannten 1 6%. f'. Lada.

l Quorum);

G.-F`.LADD DEVICE 'gEoRusE INORTING ANUDELIVERING MAIL 5 Sheets-Sheet 3Filed May 11. 192e Patented Aug. 23, 1927.

UNITED STATES GEORGE FRANK LADDfOF FORBES, NOBTH'DAKVOTA.

Application illed my k11,

This invention relates to improvements in devices for use in sorting andA delivering mail and While it may be` employed by both city and ruralmail carriers, it` is one of the objects of the invention to provide adevice of this class which will be especially .15 the mail, beconveniently employed by the carrier in delivering the mail Without anylikelihood of confusion such as Would resultfrom a disarrangement of the`sorted mail.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device for use insorting andv delivering mail embodying a plurality ofpockets into whichmail for deliveryy to different residences and places of business isdeposited y as it is sorted and which device will be lfiexible to theextent that a considerable volume of mail may be deposited in onel ormore pockets if the adjacent pockets are not filled to capacity, thearrangement being such that the bottoms of the pockets are displaceableand the pockets are so arranged one above yanother that the bottom ofeach pocket will constitute, in effect, the top of thepocket beneath it,so that the desirable result re-y ferred to may be obtained.

Another object of the invention` is to provide a, novel construction andarrangement of the pockets such as to provide for co1- lapsin'g of the`entire device to occupy minimum space after all ofthe sorted mail has40 been deposited in the pockets thereof.

Another object of the invention is to rovide a device of the classreferred tow ich will be extremely simple in construction and possess amaximum capacity 'and which, when not in use, may be collapsed to verycompact form. f v

Another object of the invention is to'so construct the device that itmay be suspended above a bench or other vsupportin a post office Whilemail'is being sorted and nnvIcn ron Usa m sommo AND :mamxvmmm:urnv

i926. serial 16.168399.

'which may be conveniently carried and like VWise suspended wvithinanautomobilev vor other vehicle where the device is to beeinployed inmaking rural deliveries.

In the accompanying drawings f Figure 1 is a perspective view of Vthedevice embodving the invention, supported in a. suspended position forthe vsort-ing of mail, the view illustrating also the supporting meanswhich likewise constitutes a part of 00 the invention. A

Figure 2 is a verticaltransverse sectional n View in detail through theupper portion of the device. Y Y

Figure 3 is a .vertical front yto rear sec- 05 tional" view takensubstantially on the line 3--3 of Figure 2, looking in the directionarrow E .Y F1gure4 isv a yvertical transverse stlona-l view through avslightly` modified form` of the device.'the view illustrating thedevice supported in suspended position.

Figure 5.is a vvertical front vto rear Sec-v tional view through thelupper portion of the modified structure shown in VFigure 4.

Figure 6 is a plan view of one 'of the pockets of the modified structurespread'out and before being arranged and secured within the body of thestructure. y'

The invention comprises a flexible case 60 which is indicated in generalby the numeral 1 and the side walls 2 and rear ,wall 3 of which arepreferably formed of a single piece of canvas, oilcloth, or any otherma- Vterial of a flexible 'nature found suitable 85 for the purpose.-The case further includes `a sheet metal top 4 yand a sheet metal.bottom 5, and the upper and lower edgesof the side walls 2 and rearwall 3 are preferably hemmed and folded over to respective- 90 lyoverlap the side. and lrear marginal ypor-v tions ofthe top 4 andunderlie the corresponding marginal portions ofthe bottom 5, the hemsbeing secured by rivets or. other Suitable securing elements, to thesaid top v and bottom. At thisV point it willv be evident that the caseas a whole is collapsible y inasmuch as all lof its walls except its topand` bottomrare flexible. .In o rder lthat the V. case may be suspendedand likewise in order that the same may be carried about in a convenientmanner, a combined suspension and hand strap 7 is secured at its ends byrivets or other suitable securing elements 8 to the opposite sidemarginal portions of the top 4 substantially midway between the frontand rear edges thereof, the said fastening elements passing alsopreferably through the heins at the upper margins of the side walls 2 ofthe case. The front marginal portions of the side walls 2 are preferablyheinmed as indicated by the numeral 9, so as to strengthen the openfront of the case.

The invention contemplates the, provision, within the case, of aplurality of pockets ali'- rangedone above another in a vertical series,as clearly shown in the several figures of the drawings, and thesepocket-sli-ltewise are flexible to an extent which will now be'madeapparent. The pockets are indicated in general byv the numeral 10, and 1each of the pockets includes in its construction, a rectangular wireframe indicated in general by the numeral 11 and comprising side members12 and fro-nt and rear end members 13 `flexible material which is stretched at its marginal portions over the respective inembers'of theframe 11 and provided with hems 16 accommodating the said members of theframe, asbest shown in Figures 2 and 3' of the drawings. Each pocketfurther comprises side walls 17 and a rear end wall 18, these wallsbeing of canvas or other material of a flexible nature found suitablefor the purpose and being preferably formed from a. single piece of suchmaterial having its lower marginalportion extended beneath the hems ofthe bottom sheet at both the sides and the rear end of the said bottomand united thereto by the saine stitches which establish the said hems,The upper margins of the side walls 17 and the upper margin of the rearend wall 18 ofeach pocket areoverturned and united by stitch- `ing as at19 and 2O respectively, along hoi'izontal lines, to the sidewalls 2 andrear end wall 3 of the case, and,rpreferably, the line of attachment ofthe upper edges of the side and rear end walls of each pocket is locatedin a plane slightly above the plane of the bottom of the pocket nextabove, and liliewise the frames 11 are preferably ofjdimensions slightlyless than the interior dimensions ofthe case, so that the bottom of eachpocket will'.clepend a shortdistance within and inspaced relation to theopen top of the pocket next beneath it, as clearly shown in Figures 2and 3 of the drawings. The peculiar arrangement of the pockets withrclation to one another holds true except that the top 4 ofthe caseconstitutes the topV of the uppermost pocket while the spaces betweenthe lowermost pocket and the bottom .tionand semi-nestechf as shown inthe several figures of the drawings, the weight of the frames 11constitutin.Gr the bottoms oi the n o 4 7 pockets beingpositioned torender the side walls 17` and rear end walls 18 substantially taut.llhei'efore, when the case 'is suspended in this manner, mail maybeintroduced into the different pocket-s until all of the inail ,intended`for introduction into the device has been sorted. To facilitatel soi'tiior the mail, eachv pocket has associated' with it` a tag holder whichwill now be described. The tag holders forfthe pockets arefindicated ingeneral by the numeral 21 and each is preferably formed from a suitablyshaped sheet metal blank andv comprises a v"nach plate 22 having avrearwardly extending iiange 23 at its upper edge which is disposed inoverlapping relation with respect to the forwardedge of the bottonrofthe rc' tive pocket and secured thereto'by rivets or other suitablefastening elementsI 2%wliicli pierce the sheet comprising' thebottom 15immediately rearwardly of Vthe front inember 13 of the respective frameA11. inform-,1

ing the tag holders, the plate 22 at the juncture of its fiange. 23v or,in other words, at each upper corner, is formed with incisions andvoverturned to provide lugs25 projectingrdo'wnwardly in ad'va'nceot therespective, plate 22, and the lower marginal portion of each plate isturned upwardly upon itself, as indicated by the numeral.26,`so that acard or slip of anysheet material of proper dimensions may be fittedinto the holderI with its lower' edge engaging behind the fiange 2G andits upper `corners engaging' behind the retaining lugs 25'. Such card orslip will bear the name ofthe head of the household, for example, of aparticular residence, oi' the namefof the proprietor of a businessplace, or the name of thel business place, on the carriers route, and itwill be preferable, ofcourse, to arrange the cards or slips, which areindicated by the Vnumeral 27, in the order in which the differentresidences andl places of business willbe reached ,by the carrier Vintraveling over Vhis route.

One of the tag holders will be mounted upon the forward edge portion ofthe top 4; and, u

of course, associated with the upperinos one of the pockets, and the tagholder wliicii is supported upon the forward edge portion of the bottomof each pocket will, ofc-ouin relate to the pocket next beneath it. Se

Ulli

as the invention is concerned, any. other stuitable identifyingarrangement may be provided vfor ythe several pockets.

In the use of the device embodying the invention, one, orany-numberthereof, is.A

suspended with lit-s open front presented toward the one who is to sortthe mail, and t-he pieces of mail are inserted into the proper pockets.The pockets have a uniform capacity, generally speaking,ror, vin otherwords, each pocket has its side and its rear Aend walls of the 'sameheight as any other one of the pockets. However, due to the peculiarconstruction and arrangement of the pockets within the 'ca-se, theinvention presents this advantage, namely, that if, in

vthe sorting of the mail, the quantity of mail introduced, into any onepocket is such that 'it extends from the bottoml of the said pockettothe bottom of the pocket next above it, more mail may still beintroduced inasmuch as the' walls of the pockets are flexible and,therefore, the bottom of the last mentioned pocket may be yelevated to agreater or less extent, as shown for example in dotted lines in Figure 2of the drawings,

and this holds true for each pocket. except, vof course, ,the uppermostpocket and, therefore, it may frequently occur that in any one of thedevices, several of the pockets will be filled with mail matteroccupying a greater space than the normal capacity ofv the pocket andinasmuch as the ybottoms of all of the pockets arev upwardlydisplaceable through the flexibility of their walls and the capabilityof the wa s of collapsing as the `bottoms ofthe pockets are elevated, itwill seldom occur that any diiiiculty will be found Vvin introducinginto any yone of the pockets all of the mail due for delivery to the'recipient identified bythe tag in the tag holder associated with therespectivepocket.

Therefore, the device' may be said to have a v maximum possible capacityand consequently presentsA a decldcdad'vantage over devlces in which thepockets Vare lmore or less 1n 'the nature of non-,flexible ornon-expansible compartments having a limited capacity.'

` vAfter all of the mail to be delivered has been sorted or distributedto the pockets, the case is removed vfrom its suspension means andcollapsed or permitted to collapse,

taut, may be so held through the medium of any ordinary type of buckleindicated by lthewnumral T31. located a greater or less distanceforwardly Preferably the strap is of a plane midway Vbetween the backand `the open front of the case, so that the front portion vof the case,in its collapsed condition, is constricted to a greater degree than therear port-i011 of the case and, therefore, the case is more restrictednear the open forward ends of the pockets to better retain in place thevpieces of mail matter which are arranged within the said pockets.

A convenient supporting means for the device during the period ofsorting the mail is clearly illustrated in Figurel of the drawings, andthe same comprises two base members or feet 32 which are secured in anysuitable manner upon a bench or shelf 33, and standards 34 are mountedat their lower ends `in or upon the base members'32 and at their upperends fit into sockets 35 provided at the ends of a cross piece 36 whichextends between the said upper endsl of the standardsv and may be of anydesired length, depending upon the number of the devices which are -tobe suspended therefrom. In the embodiment shown in Figure 1 of thedrawings, the supporting structure is arranged to support a single voneof the devices, and the standards 34 arespaced apart a distance toaccommodate the device without lateral binding thereof. A vsuspensionhook 37 is carried by the cross piece 36 and the suspension or handstrap 7 is engaged with` this hook.l Likewise, in the arrangement shown,the bottom of the case engages between the opposing sides of the basemembersl 32, which members are arranged in parallelism to each other,and consequently there is no likelihood of lateral swinging of 'thedevice while mail matter is being inserted into the pockets. Of course,where several of the ldevices are to be supported,

'nsl

they willv be arrangedV side by side andthe 'l cross piece 36 will belonger and provided with a corresponding number of the hooks 37, theuprights or standards 34 being likewise spaced apart a distancesubstantially equal to the requisite `length of the cross piecev asLalso the base members 32.

After the sorting of the mail matter, the

devices are, as before stated, removed from the'supporting or suspensionhooks and collapsed andV constricted lby tightening the straps'28, andthe strap 7 then serves as a handlev by which the device may be carriedto the vehicle employed by the postman. At such time, the straps 47constitute a convenient means lwhereby the several devices may besuspended within the automobile or other vehicle` beneath the topthereof and thus be protected'from theV elements as well l lasApreventing soiling of the mail matter whichy might" occur if the deviceswere merely deposited upon the floor of the vehicle body. Y

Figures 4, -and 6 of the drawings, illustrate a somewhat modified andlikewise ,simplified construction of the pockets of the holder and, asclearly shown in Figure 6, each of these pockets comprises a rectangularvframe 38 which is preferably of Iwire and tively broad hemsA 42, thefolds embracing the front and rear members of the frame, as clearlyshown in Figures 5 and 6 of the drawings, and lines of stitching 43being run -throughthe heinsclose to the folds and consequently along andclose to the inner sides of the said end members of the frame, and theselines of stitching being extended about the entire length of the frontand rear marginal portions of the sheet of material. The marginalportions constituting the heins 42 have their edges hemmed and united bylines of stitching 44 to the body of the sheet so vthat a` materialreenforcement is provided at the front and rear ends of each pocket. Theframe 38 is disposed equi-distantly from the opposite side margins ofthe sheet comprising the pockets and lines of stitching 45 are runthrough the hems 42 at opposite sides 0fv and close to the side members39 of the frame so as to maintain the frame and the 'pocket sheet inproper position with respect to each other. This arrangement of theframe leaves side portions 46 which,lin fact, constitute the sides ofthe pocket and these sides are reenforced at their front and rear endsinasmuch as the hems 42, as stated, extend throughout the entire lengthof the front and rear marginal portions of the sheet. The lateralmargins of the sheet are hemined, as indicated by the numeral 47, andthese hemmed edges are united by lines .of stitching 48 to the sidewalls 49 of the case, which case, in this and in every other respect,corresponds to the case l of the previously described embodiment of theinvention. It will be noted that in themodified form of the invention,the entire pocket coinprises the single sheet of material and the vframearranged and united as described and that the pocket is open at both itsfront and rear ends. I-Iowever, the fact that each Apocket is open atits rear end is not' of material consequence inasmuch as the said endsof the pockets are disposed relatively close tothe back of the casewhich, in the figures illustrating vthe modification, is indicated bythe numeral 50.

I-Iaving thus described the invention, what I claim is:

l. In a device for use in sorting and deside and rear walls, the sideand rear walls.

of the pockets being flexible and thereby adapted to be collapsed andbeing attached at their upper portions to the respective walls of thecase, the pockets of the series being semi-nested with relation to oneanother whereby the bottom of one pocket may constitute a displaceabletop for the pocket next beneath it.

2. In a device for use in sorting and delivering mail, a case having anopen front and relatively non-fiexible top and bottom, the case furthercomprising fiexible side and rear walls adapting it to be collapsed, anda series of pockets within the lcase arranged one above another andhaving relatively non-flexible bottoms and flexible side and rear walls,the said side and rear walls being connected at their upper portions toand suspended freely from the corresponding side and rear walls of thecase.

3. In a. device for use in sorting andV delivering mail, a case havingflexible side walls adapting it to be collapsed, and a series ofcollapsible semi-nested pockets Within the case and each having abottoim'and flexible walls extending upwardly from the bottom and'havingtheir upper edge portions connected with the flexiblewalls thereof.

4. In a'device forvuse in sorting and delivering mail, a case havingflexible side and rear walls adapting it to be collapsed, the case beingopen at its front, and a series of pockets within the case arranged oneabove another and eachcomprising'walls of iiexible material united attheir upper portions to the corresponding walls of the case, each pocketfurther including a non-flexible bottoinextending between its walls andof dimensions less than the interior dimensions of the case, the lowerVportion of one pocket depending freely within tlieupper portion of thepocket next beneath it, whereby the pockets are freely collapsible withthe case and whereby the bottoms of the pockets are freely upwardlydisplaceable.

5. In a devicefor vuse in sortingand delivering mail, a case havingflexible side and rear walls adapting it to be collapsed, and a seriesof pockets arranged one above another within the case and each pocketcomprising flexible Walls -attached at their upper marginalportions tothe corresponding walls of the case and suspended therefrom, each pocketfurther including a bottom comprising a. frame and a sheet ofmaterialstretched within the frame and connected at its marginal portionstherewith and to the lower marginal portions of the walls of the pocket.

6. In a device of the character described, a case open at its front, anda series of pockets arranged one above another in the case, each pocketcomprisin a flexible body, and a. bottom frame dispose upon said body,

the front and rear portions of the body 10 pocket therein and permitupward displace- 15 lment of its bottom. Y

In testimony whereof I. aix my si ature. GEORGE FRANK LADD. 5.]

